Unexpected Allies
by Aleta Thuvis
Summary: Harry is captured and in a lonely cell.


Unexpected Allies

Author Notes: I don't own the characters, and setting of the following story. I'm just playing with J Rowling's dolls while she has her back turned. Finished! Also, not beta-ed. If you see errors, feel free to email me.

Chapter 1

He woke up slowly and groggily. He couldn't remember… things and it was a fair challenge to think. He couldn't even remember the basics of where he was, who he was, and why his bed was so hard. He started to move to find a more comfortable spot, but his bruises protested and he moaned. Ok, add the question of who the hell beat me up!

His legs were sore like he had run or walked a long way. His back hurt, whether that was from the stone floor or carrying something he didn't know. His stomach hurt too, probably hunger and getting hit.

He opened his eyes. He was half expecting to be in a sterile white room or a dorm with beds and people. Actually, he was in a prison cell with 3 stone walls and a wall with iron bars with a door. It was bare outside the bars. Inside, he had himself, with dirty student robes, a shallow hole in the corner and an iron ring set high into the wall.

His memory randomly supplied answers. They probably drugged with a spell or a potion, somehow. They were his enemies, Voldemort and his death eaters and the death eaters to be, the Slytherins. He could be in some pureblood's dungeon, Malfoy's or one of the other death eaters.

He should be in class at Hogwarts. Harry Potter, or Potter to most of his peers outside of Gryffindor, The Boy Who Lived, to the rest of the wizarding world, worthless brat to his blood relatives, that was who he was. He was the figurehead of the light side and captured by the dark.

Unfortunately, his memories failed to tell him how he came to be in the cell. He could remember Hogwarts and his routine of classes. Specifics, like what assignments were due or the last potion he attempted to make under the glare of Professor Snape only sharpened his dull throbbing headache.

Harry touched his forehead to the cold stone floor, one of the few times a cold stone floor could provide comfort.

"Crucio!" The shout sliced into Harry's consciousness a half second before the spell. The realization that he must have fallen back to sleep was blocked by the sudden mind blowing pain of the spell.

"Aaarg!" Harry screamed, struggling not to bite his tongue or thrash around too much. It was the normal response to the spell, a person instinctively wants to make the pain real so that the body can heal the problem and end the pain. What that really accomplished was bruises that would hurt after the spell was released.

A painful, timeless eternity, Voldemort released the spell. Harry lay on side, trying to catch his breath. The spell exhausted Harry and made him wish Voldemort would leave him alone to catch another nap, but Voldemort remained outside his cell, ranting.

Voldemort ranted about all the usual things. How he was going to kill Harry. Preaching his pure-blood dogma. How hopeless Harry should feel. There was other shit, but Harry zoned it out. It was less interesting than Professor Binn's lectures about the Goblin Wars. And, He Hurt! The crucio spell did not interact well to Harry's previous beating.

Voldemort paused and looked expectantly at Harry, like a Professor that caught a student daydreaming.

"What?" Harry asked and then tried not to cough his lungs out.

"Why! Potter, do you oppose me?" Voldemort demanded.

"You started it." Harry managed to say. Later, he would think of better replies, but the pain simplified his answers.

Voldemort blinked. "I started it? What a muggle way to look at it! Don't you know by opposing me you only make it worse for yourself and friends!"

"Would be dead anyway. The Light will win, even if they have to find another champion."

"Is that what Hogwarts is teaching? False hope will not comfort you here. I will kill you and anyone who opposes me.

Voldemort continued. "Bit of a shame, though it's rare to find a wizard that can resist Imperio and survive Avavda Kadvara. Guess that leaves… Crucio!" Voldemort recast the spell.

Harry didn't know when the spell ended, or when Voldemort left. He did make a note that falling unconscious under Crucio didn't help. The pain followed him and it left him surprised when he awoke that he wasn't under the spell anymore.

That wasn't the only surprise. Rough hands touched him, making his wounds flare with pain. Harry pulled away and tried not to whimper before opening his eyes to see the next torturer.

It was a sour Professor Snape, looking quite off-put to having to tend The Boy Who Was Captured And About To Die. "Hold still, Gryffindor idiot." Snape grumbled.

Harry went still, recognizing now, that Snape was performing examining spells to assess Harry's wounds. "Snape? Professor?" Harry asked, adding Snape's title as an afterthought. He wanted to ask several things but Snape to chose to poke at his ribs about the same time he drew breath to speak again.

"Silencio!" Snape hissed furiously. "I have no interest in explaining anything to you Potter. The Dark Lord wants you to be alive long enough for the proper arrangements for you execution. Dormis!" Snape ended his speech with a sleep spell.

Harry's last thought was, if Snape had been Binns then he wouldn't have needed it….

Harry woke up as a door opened and closed. The door was out of sight from his position in his cell, so in the few moments he had before the visitor came into view, Harry analyzed his condition.

Harry was feeling better then Voldemort's last visit. The bruises were still tender to touch, but he could breathe without pain. He guessed he would still look like shit, but internally he was pretty good. Maybe a two night stay in the med-wing instead of the two weeks of his earlier condition.

To Harry's surprise, Nagini slid into view. She slithered efficiently to a spot a few feet away from the bars of his cell. She coiled herself into a spiral and stared at him. Unblinkingly. Occasionally her tongue would flick out and back in.

Harry shrugged mentally to himself. He started to examine his situation more, now that he felt better. He catalogued what he had. He was wearing his clothes. They were torn and dirty. If he survived this; the clothes would be thrown away. He had his glasses. All the better to see his upcoming doom, he supposed. That was it, personally. His cell was bare. Good thing in his opinion, bare meant no chains or weird devices to stare at. There was a shallow hole in the other corner. The faint smell of waste, clued him in on what it was for. The back cell wall had a metal ring mounted into it. Harry wondered if it was built in, or installed later.

Harry yawned and tasted a bitter aftertaste of something in his mouth. It tasted like morning after potion breath, the especially nasty stuff Pomfrey used. It was probably Snape, it fit his bed side matter to knock his patient unconscious and then force a potion down his throat.

Harry reviewed Snape's visit. It was strange, somehow he had memories where he shouldn't.

"_Dormis!"_

_Harry fell asleep, but somehow remained awake. Snape pulled a vial of liquid from his robes and feed it to Harry. Harry swallowed, unable to muster the strength to do anything else. It was like the few times in the dorms, falling sleep before everyone else settling in. Harry could hear everything, but he didn't have the desire to do anything. With this, Harry could see too._

_Snape rocked back on his heels. "Potter. Do not expect a rescue anytime soon. They left a changeling in your place."_

_Harry would've asked what a changeling was, but the scene around them changed from the cell to a surreal view of the Med-wing with Ron and Hermione standing over a bed with a sleeping Harry in it._

"_Don't know when the switch was made. My opportunities to tell the Order are slim to none at this point. If you see me again, treat me like the Death Eater I am, or I will be forced to deal with you harsher." Snape instructed, sounding as usual like he would look forward to treating Harry harsh no matter what Harry did. The cell setting came back. _

_Snape's body started to fade but he left with one last part of advice, "If you have any brains, you'll act more hurt then you really are."_

Harry blinked. Nagini was still staring at him and nothing had changed.

Harry looked back at Nagini. She looked like a pile of scaled rope. Harry knew she received a part of Voldemort's soul. Dumbledore said as much when Harry asked why he had those visions from Nagini's point of view.

Without the sun or something to keep time, it was hard to determine how long Nagini watched him. The only change was that Nagini would coil a little more tighter against the chill of the dungeon. Eventually, she left stiffly.

Harry wondered how she managed to open the door to leave.

The door flew open and crashed against the opposite wall. There was quick and heavy footsteps. Harry quickly pulled himself up to a sitting position. He debated standing, but Voldemort stopped right in front of his cell before he could decide.

Harry watched Voldemort's back as Voldemort pointed his wand and cast, "Incendio!" at the floor. The dust and dirt combusted into flame and quickly dulled. Voldemort threw Nagini into the heated area. Nagini quickly slithered away from her too hot landing spot. She took care to keep her head close to the ground, though. "Now. Stay. Here." He commanded in parsletongue. Nagini complied and slithered into the warmed spot, obediently. Voldemort stomped out.

Harry marveled at Voldemort's behavior. If he treated his pet and piece of soul like shit, how did he have followers in the first place?

Not to mention, Nagini's obedience to step into a place that still had embers of fire from the Incendio spell. Harry wondered if Voldemort ordered Nagini into a real fire, would she enter it.

Ok, not by stepping…Harry paused in his thinking. Nagini was hissing. Harry strained to hear her without moving from his place.

"Stupid…cold in here…sleep then he'd bitch about that!" Nagini hissed.

Harry was startled by Nagini's choice of words. Not many snakes would have chosen those words. Most of the time, Harry struggled to understand snakes meaning since they did not use human references. Harry sat back and smiled. Nagini was intelligent enough to feel disgruntled about the abuse.

Nagini sudden stopped hissing. Her eyes narrowed at him, possibly picking up that he understood her.

Harry let the smile drop. He wasn't sure about revealing that he understood her. Nagini could run and report it to Voldemort. And then what? So what he knew parsletongue. Still, it might mean Voldemort would try something else to disturb Harry.

"You are a strange one." Nagini commented to Harry.

Harry quickly found a piece of floor to stare at away from Nagini. He could still see her fuzzily in the corner of his vision.

"You aren't scared of me. I can smell that much. It hardly bothers you that I observe you."

Harry silently agreed. He knew Voldemort and his Death Eaters were to be feared more then Nagini's stare. Still, he tried not to start when Nagini slide out of her coil and began to slither into his cell.

Nagini continued her hiss, "Many have been there, in your cell. Very few were as stoic. Only his most trusted passed this level, Snape, Malfoy and the Strange one. Even they were scared, just on a different level."

Harry found it interesting that Snape passed the snake's stare. Surely, Snape did not have the knowledge Harry did about what Nagini was.

Nagini entered Harry's cell. Harry remained still. Whatever Nagini was going to do, it wouldn't kill him. Harry assured himself. Voldemort intended to do that later. Not much can top Crucio in terms of pain, Harry thought.

Harry did give up pretending not to watch Nagini slithering closer. Nagini climbed into Harry. "Tell me why you aren't afraid. My fangs are full of poison…"

Nagini curled around his neck. "I could crush your throat…"

Harry replied tensely, "Because I have not trespassed on your hunting ground nor do I desire your nest." Harry mentioned the first things snakes usually asked him about when he started conversations. Was he competition for food, or their home, or a danger to their little ones. He purposely didn't mention not intending harm to her family. Since, he did intend harm on Voldemort, if he got a chance at it.

Nagini froze. Then she dropped off of Harry. Harry was a bit relieved. She could've easily done exactly what she said. Bitten him or crushed his throat… so her dropping off his body meant about the same as a wand being lowered.

"You speak!" Nagini hissed in awe.

Harry smiled again. Nagini was still a snake, most snakes reacted in shock to him speaking to them. "I do. I've conversed with many snakes."

Hagrid had called upon Harry often to talk different snakes to patrol his small garden. They had tried to talk to other reptiles also, but limbed cold-blooded had their own language and had blinked at Harry blankly.

"Does my lord know? You two could work together, he doesn't realize…" Nagini replied excited.

"Merlin, No!" Harry shouted in reply and in English. Parsletongue simply didn't have any expressions for loudness. Nagini looked sharply in the direction of the entrance of the dungeon. Harry looked too, hoping no one was around to investigate his sudden outburst.

"What did you say?" Nagini asked after a minute.

"No way would I work with or under your lord." Harry replied more subdued but tensely.

"Oh." Nagini said. Then she suddenly coiled up and hissed a snake pain sound.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked concerned.

Nagini didn't answer. Harry shivered. He could only imagine what Voldemort or the Death Eaters would think if they find Nagini dead inside his cell with him.

Harry took a deep breath, ignoring the staleness in the air. Concentrating as hard as the first time he cast a true spell, he pronounced, "Windgram Leviosa." He directed the spell near Nagini and him. The floor failed to rise into the air, but some dirt came up. Harry magically swirled it around, expending more magic into the spell without a wand.

It was the only thing he could do without his wand. He ended the spell but his intended result was evident. Harry warmed the spot with magic.

A few minutes after Harry cast, Nagini uncurled from her tight coils and tasted the air. She looked over at Harry. "You warmed a spot? How?"

Harry felt foolish. He was so worried about her reporting parsletongue, and he went and revealed more. "You seemed… in pain. I thought it was the dungeon chill. It was the only thing I could think on doing."

Nagini tasted the air again. "Even the air is warmer. I thank you for your concern. I have to leave; Dark Lord summoned me." She slid out of Harry's cell.

"Nagini." Harry scrambled to the bars. Nagini could move quickly when she wanted to.

Nagini stopped.

"Please don't tell him….anything. I mean if he doesn't ask." Harry requested. He didn't want to command her and he knew Voldemort would think nothing about hurting her if he thought she wasn't telling him something.

Nagini nodded, "I know my duty, Light Lord." She slithered out of sight before Harry could say anything more.

Harry returned to the back of his cell. Light Lord??

Harry enjoyed the brief warmness he created. He imagined hearing Hermione lecturing him about it too. Hermione would berate him for using magic like he did and not to mention sympathizing with the enemy too much.

Hermione would say something like, "You should never cast something and expect a different direct result."

Honestly, Harry was happy he managed to use the bit of wandless magic. Even now, he could faintly smell burnt feathers, since at Hogwarts all he managed was to ignite the feather. Apparently without a wand a wizard expended more magic to accomplish the same thing, the overflow for some reason became heat. That specific class was one of his last ones before last summer.

Harry was startled when the door opened. Somehow, he must have drifted to sleep. This time light footsteps announced someone other then Nagini was approaching. Again, Harry sat up, content to meet who ever it was in this position.

A kid, about ten years old, walked to his cell. Nagini followed him closely. "Slide the tray into his cell." Nagini ordered.

To Harry's shock, the kid delivered the food as ordered by Nagini. Harry didn't let that stop him from grabbing the tray. He barely noticed what the food was; he was too hungry to be picky.

Harry finished the tray too soon. The boy was waiting. So Harry slid the tray into his reach.

"Take the tray to the kitchen and then return." Nagini ordered. The kid walked off with the tray.

"I thought Voldemort and I were the only parslemouthes…" Harry trailed off.

"The slave doesn't truly understand. Dark Lord cast a spell so that I could be more useful to him. Not having limbs was inconvenient."

"I bet. Could he cast that on anyone?" Harry asked trying not to think of one of his friends trapped by a spell like that.

"No…has to be young and not magical." Nagini explained.

The door interrupted another question from Harry. The slave returned and he had a key in his hand.

"Good, unlock the door and enter the cell." Nagini ordered.

Harry stood quickly, alarmed. "Nagini, what?"

"Light Lord, I wasn't able to delay Dark Lord's decision to kill you. He will be sending someone soon to fetch you. All I can offer is a place to hide." Nagini stated.

"Hide? But I rather face him…"

"If you face him now, someone will kill you. He called in all his followers tonight to witness. You must decide now there are humans coming."

Harry nodded. "Hide." Then, confront him on my timing and not his.

"Follow me, Light Lord." Nagini led him down the corridor, further away from the door to the dungeons. She stopped in front of a grate.

"Where?"

"In the there." Nagini nodded to the grate.

"Are you sure? How deep is it?" Harry asked concerned.

"A little deeper then you are tall. Hurry, you don't have much cover." Nagini said and slid away.

Harry picked up the grate. It was a good weight but it came free easily. Since it a straight drop, he lay on the floor and slid in feet first. Harry grabbed the grate along with him. He managed to hold on the grate when the Death Eaters came in. He couldn't feel the ground so he was nervous about letting go.

The footstep thudded and sounded more than one person.

"Time to start celebrating your death day, Potter." A man's voice announced ending weakly. "You! What are you doing here!" he demanded.

"I…I don't know, sir." The slave answered, sounding close to tears.

"Did you see anything?" Snape asked.

"No…where am I?" the bewildered boy asked.

"Leave it. He is Nagini's. He won't know anything." The other man stated.

"Come boy, the lord will want you." Snape commanded.

Three set of footsteps began their journey out of the dungeon.

Harry's fingers ached and he was slowly losing grip. Harry managed to hold on until the door closed and then he fell. Nagini was right, it was a little deeper than he was tall; including his arm span. This pit would be a joke to Hagrid. Harry wondered if Nagini had a plan to unhide him.

Nagini slithered in, hanging from the grate. "Light Lord, are you hurt?"

"It was a tad deeper then you said, but I'm alright. What about you? Will you be in trouble?" Harry asked.

"Do not worry about me. I will return later. Stay hidden here."

"I'll try. I feel better facing things." Harry confessed.

"Humans have no patience. It is better to let the prey come to you." Nagini threaded out of the grate.

Harry's new location was darker and earthy. Sounds echoed strangely and he couldn't tell when Nagini used the dungeon door to leave. Harry felt the wall they were solid but not smooth. If he had his wand, he could probably manage to get out. It certainly wasn't a place he would have hid in on his own.

Harry settled. He assumed he had been in the dungeon for a couple of days. Maybe Snape figured out how to send a message to Dumbledore. After all, Snape would have to communicate somehow to rearrange for his classes. Or not, if this was holiday break. Snape definitely won't attempt to break Harry out on his own. It would risk revealing his loyalties, and against too many odds.

Harry learned a few things in his new location. Nagini was very intelligent, since no Death Eater came close to the grate to see if Harry hid there. Some Death Eaters actually thought Harry was a fearsome wizard.

Several Death Eaters were instructed to find him or at east find how he got out The Death Eaters grumbled about the fruitless task and punishments they would receive due to their failing. Harry marveled that the Death Eaters sounded like they were more scared of the punishment then concentrating on finding Harry.

Also, Harry found out he was in Malfoy's dungeon. Lucius was being tortured to find out about any thing about the dungeons Harry could've used to get out.

Then, there was a long period of nothing. Harry was relatively sure no one was in the dungeon. He still couldn't hear the door. Which was why when Nagini threaded herself though the grate and dangled in front of Harry's face, he was startled.

"Eep!" Harry quickly realized it was Nagini. He capped his hand over his mouth to muffle further noise.

"Light Lord, don't be alarmed. You don't think I would harm you, after this point?" Nagini asked.

Harry let his hand fall from his face and took a breath. "You just startled me, that's all. Wasn't expecting a visit so soon." He kept his opinion of Nagini being a threat to himself.

"You have not answered my question." Nagini pointed out, holding surprisingly steady in the air.

"I don't understand." Harry stated.

"Do you think I would cause you harm?" Nagini asked bluntly again.

"You are the servant of the Dark Lord. For all I know, this is a plan between the both of you." Harry said attempting to be as blunt.

"No. The Dark Lord does not know. He thinks you escaped somehow."

"Why?"

"Because you weren't in the cell when his Death Eaters were sent to fetch you."

"No, why… are you doing this? If you aren't following the Dark Lord's orders."

Nagini blinked. "You are not aware of the loyalty of the snakes?"

Harry shrugged, "Um, no. I have no clue."

"If you warm a spot, I will join you and tell you about it." Nagini offered.

"What about…" Harry mentioned up. "I can't hear approaching people very well."

"We won't be disturbed. They are sleep, exhausted by the search for you and the Dark Lord's wrath." Nagini reassured.

"Oh, what time is it?" Harry didn't feel tired at all.

"Dawn."

So much for depending on his internal clock. Harry would've guessed afternoon or evening. "Give me a minute to cast. Windgram Leviaso."

Harry put a little more magic into the spell. His new location was more damp then his previous. The pit warmed to a comfortable level and Harry ended the spell. Harry coughed as the dirt resettled. Nagini dropped down.

"It is a long story. Once there was a Lord, who greatly admired snakes. He was the most interested in communicating to snakes but everything he tried failed. The only hope he had was a piece of knowledge, that another Lord was granted speech to another type animal by an intelligent animal of the same type. The Lord grew obsessed with his ideas. Other Lords thought he was crazy, so he withdrew from them, preferring snakes as company, even before he could talk to them.

"Eventually the Lord's research lead him to a Naga."

Harry inhaled sharply, "He bargained with a Naga?!" They were known to be self serving and would grant requests only after very dangerous and sometimes evil tasks.

"Yes. Apparently the Lord impressed her. She granted his wish and admonished all snakes to serve any Lord that was able to communicate to them."

Harry thought and then asked, "How do you know this?" Voldemort didn't seem the type to over explain to his pet snake why she should obey him. Punish her until she did…

"When the Dark Lord gifted me with a piece of his soul, I dreamt it. The knowledge is in all snakes, but they are not intelligent to fully understand their position. This is why I aid you. I can not do less." Nagini explained

"I don't understand. You served the Dark Lord before you knew of me. You don't have to help me." Harry said puzzled.

"I do what I must, Light Lord. Do you want to kill the Dark Lord?"

Harry exhaled. "If he left me alone…if he left my friends alone…if he wasn't so bent on the idea of Purebloods only. I wouldn't. There's a prophecy too, that says neither can live while other lives."

"Why does he want to kill you?" Nagini asked, with a childlike innocence.

Harry grew frustrated. "I don't know Nagini. Why don't you ask him what his motivations are?"

"Your answer would still be different then his."

Harry took a breath. Nagini only wanted to understand. Unfortunately, he didn't understand it, either. "By now, it's many things. First some stupid prophecy names me to be a threat to him. Some friends and I stopped him first year from getting what he wanted. Second year, I destroyed one of his artifacts. Fourth year, I dueled him and barely escaped from him. I'm a symbol to the Light Side. He knows it."

Nagini looked at Harry, unblinkingly. "You've committed no crime against his family or your fellow humans?"

"Crime? Guess that depends on the court, doesn't it? The Death Eaters consider it a crime to stand against him in the first place." Harry pointed out. He refrained from mentioning his own brushes with the Ministry. It was just politics.

"What about according to the rules of the current power?" Nagini pressed.

"Nagini." Harry paused. How to explain his exploits. "I have bent and broken some of the rules. There are times a wizard has to decide … Other people breaking the rules tend to use the rules to hide their acts. Sometimes, you have to break a few minor rules in order to prevent a greater tragedy. Like second year, I entered a girl's bathroom after the curfew and entered an extremely dangerous situation. If I hadn't, my friend would've died. I've broken a few Ministry laws too. Accidental magic and in self defense. "

"So, you only break rules in self-preservation and to save people?" Nagini asked.

Harry winced remembering that mudball he threw at Malfoy under the safety of his invisibility cloak. "I…broke some school rules because I wanted to. I didn't do anything really dangerous, just a few pranks."

"What would you do, if Voldemort was gone?" Nagini asked quietly.

"I would…live my life. Hopefully, the wizarding society would be intact. If not, I'll help rebuild it. Maybe I'll be able to become just another wizard…" Harry trailed off, sure the Nagini didn't want to hear the angst of being the figurehead of the light side.

"What about the Dark Lord's servants?" Nagini pointed out.

Harry looked away. It was hard to admit that more than Voldemort needed to die. "A few select Death Eaters would be captured or killed. The rest would be hunted for a time but eventually be left alone. The Aurors will take care of that."

Nagini was quiet and the heat from Harry's spell had almost dissipated. Harry fell silent, even though he wanted to ask Nagini what she was thinking.

A time later, Nagini commanded, "Lift me to the grate."

Harry gently picked her up and lifted Nagini. She wound around his hands for an anchor and stretched for the grate. She threaded herself through the holes and left Harry's hands.

"I am pleased to met you, my lord. Remember me." Nagini hissed before leaving the grate.

"Nagini!" Harry stage whispered. "What do you mean?!" Was that a pledge of loyalty? Was that her final words before turning on Voldermort herself? She didn't return to answer his question.

It was a long time again before Harry heard anything new. He had occupied himself by sleeping and carefully feeling out the pit he was in.

It had been a long while, according to Harry's stomach. Harry was past pure hunger and into the consistent ache. Random thuds and crashes alerted Harry that something big was going on in the house above him. Harry wished desperately to be able to hear someone to determine the reason. Harry hoped it was something that would rescue him.

Harry debated again whether he could climb the pit. It was risky and that grate at the top was heavy. He didn't know if he would be able to support himself enough to lift it and haul himself out without falling.

"I'm telling you that Potter went missing the previous night! He's not going to be down in Malfoy's dungeons, sir." Someone angrily said. They seemed confident and speaking to someone that wasn't listening to their advice.

"Still, one should look at all possible places for the boy." Snape replied, uncharacteristically kindly and forthright.

"We should be searching the grounds, first." Snape's companion pointed out.

"All in good time. Be a help here and search those cells. We'll have this place searched, licky split." Snape's voice answered.

Harry cursed Nagini for convincing him to enter this pit. He couldn't be sure if they were Death Eaters or not. The companion's voice sounded familiar, but Harry couldn't place it. Harry just needed them to look over the grate. There was a corner he could squeeze into to conceal his presence if it was really was Death Eaters. One thing Harry hung his hope on, was they had yet to mention Voldermort.

Harry decided to get their attention to the grate. He concentrated, centering his magic to the grate. Windgram Leviaso! He released the spell.

The grate heated and rose an inch, then crashed down causing a huge clatter.

Both men yelped something in response. Harry tried not to laugh at his success that scared the two men.

"Dumbledore! Was that you?" the almost familiar voice demanded.

Dumbledore? Harry wondered fiercely.

"No, Shacklebolt, I was not the cause of the noise." Snape's voice replied back. This time it sounded totally like Snape. Harry was confused. At least Shacklebolt was an Order member and fit the voice.

"What was it then?" Shacklebolt accused.

"I believe it was that grate at the end of the corridor."

Harry decided to risk them being Death Eaters. Shacklebolt was an Order member. And there had to be a good explanation for Dumbledore using Snape's voice.

"Guys?" Harry called out. "Could you get me out of here?"

"Harry! Good to see you! We'll be a jif!" Snape's face appeared over the grate, again acting out of character. It was almost surreal, the smile that was on Snape's features.

"Potter! What possessed you to hide in there?" Shacklebolt questioned.

After Shacklebolt and Dumbledore rescued Harry from the pit, Harry found himself passed to one trusted Order member to another by portkeys and appartition. They expedited his travel back to Hogwarts. Harry was so exhausted that he fell asleep on Tonks on the last leg of the journey.

Harry woke up in the comforting white sterile place. The infirmary and more importantly Hogwarts. With her usual good timing, Pomfrey bustled in with a breakfast tray.

"Glad you are awake dear. Dobby dropped this off for you." Pomfrey set it down within Harry's reach.

"Where's Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked, picking up a spoon for the oatmeal on the tray.

"They'll be dropping in later. You know them, they would've pitched a tent in here, if I had let them." Pomfrey reassured Harry.

Satified, Harry began eating. Pomfrey bustled around, casting spells and prompting him to eat.

"When can I leave?" Harry asked between bites.

"We'll see how you are this afternoon." Pomfrey dodged. "It's amazing what damage skipping a few meals can cause."

"And Crucio spells and a beating…" Harry added in a grumbling tone.

Pomfrey looked shocked, and then regained her professional med-witch look. "You have impressive bruising, and crucio, of course, doesn't leave physical marks. Did you receive healing?" She knew Harry wouldn't mention a beating if all they did was bruise the boy.

"Um, yah. Professor Snape slipped into my cell once. Fed me some potion." Told me about the changeling, but Harry didn't add that. He wanted to see how long it took them to tell him.

Harry finished breakfast and Pomfrey took the tray away. Ron and Hermione ran in.

"Harry!" Hermione climbed on his bed and hugged him.

"Herm-umph!" Harry hugged back. "Glad to see you too."

"Hey Mate," Ron said, waving the boy version of Hermione's hug.

To Harry's shock and dismay, he felt moistness from about the place Hermione has buried her face to his chest. Hermione was crying! Oh merlin!

"We're sorry! I'm sorry that we lost you!" Hermione cried in his shoulder. Ron looked embarrassed and guilty as well.

"Whoa, Hermione. You're going to have to explain what happened first." Harry said. He had a guess that somehow the changling figured into Hermione's distress.

Hermione released Harry. The tears brightened her checks and her mood changed. "Where did you go running off to!" she demanded.

Females! "I don't know, Herm. Where were we last?" Harry struggled to be patient.

Ron and Hermione shared an alarmed look.

Ron asked, "Dude, you don't remember? First trip to Hogsmeade this year?"

"Probably some form of Oblivate." Hermione diagnosed.

"No, I missed that?" Harry asked dismayed. At least it meant it was early in the year. He could makeup the classes if he didn't start remembering them. And the headache he had when he first tried to think back wasn't happening. Hopefully that was a good sign.

"You didn't miss it. We all went. Hermione and I went to Honeydukes and then you disappeared." Ron explained.

"We found you, collapsed in the bushes next to the road to Hogswarts." Hermione shuddered trying not to break down remembering. "Ron carried… it to Hogwarts."

"It?" Harry questioned.

"It was changling." Ron explained. "They didn't tell us until it was clear it was dying."

"Dumbledore told us that it wasn't you. And he didn't know where you were."

"Did he blame you two? You didn't get in trouble…" Harry questioned.

Ron shook his head No. Hermione explained. "A changeling is a construct. Way more advanced magic then students could manage."

"That didn't stop us before." Harry pointed out.

"Harry, it takes time, uninterrupted time, private space and some very hard to get ingredients. No student has that sort of access. We think some of the Death Eaters had this in the process in case they managed to get a hold of you."


End file.
